Income and Poverty across SMSAs: A Two-Stage Analysis

Two popular explanations of urban poverty are the "welfare-disincentive" and "urban-deindustrialization" theories. Using cross-sectional Census data, we develop a two-stage model to predict an SMSAs median family income and poverty rate. The model allows the city's welfare level and industrial structure to affect its median family income and poverty rate directly. It also allows welfare and industrial structure to affect income and poverty indirectly, through their effects on family structure, education, and employment. The results give limited support to both the welfare-disincentive and urban-deindustrialization explanations of urban income levels and poverty rates.Welfare

Undergraduate Economics Journals: Learning By Doing

Although there are currently only a few undergraduate journals in economics, we expect their numbers to increase substantially in the future because of several developments: 1) research and writing activity is increasing in economics programs, 2) online publication is now more feasible and cost efficient than ever, and 3) students are increasingly aware of their on-line identity and desire to project a positive and professional image. Since increasing use of undergraduate journals might benefit a number of students, including potential article authors, article reviewers, and editors, there is a need to begin to assess the educational benefits of participation in journals. This paper reports results from a survey of reviewers who had reviewed articles for two undergraduate journals, The Park Place Economist and The Undergraduate Economic Review. The reviewers generally agreed that they received a range of benefits from the review process and nearly all agreed that reviewing had been a valuable use of their time. Several of the suggested benefits were positively correlated with measures of participation intensity. Nearly half the respondents thought the benefits would have been greater with more, not fewer, articles to review

Smoking, cessation and expenditure in low income Chinese: cross sectional survey

BACKGROUND: This study was carried-out to explore smoking behaviour and smoking expenditure among low income workers in Eastern China to inform tobacco control policy. METHODS: A self-completion questionnaire was administered to 1958 urban workers, 1909 rural workers and 3248 migrant workers in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China in 2004. RESULTS: Overall 54% of the men and 1.8% of all women were current smokers (at least 1 cigarette per day). Smoking was least common in migrant men (51%), compared with 58% of urban workers and 64% rural inhabitants (P < 0.0001). Forty-nine percent of rural males smoke more than 10 cigarettes/day, and 22% over 20/day. The prevalence of smoking increased with age. Overall 9% of the males had successfully quit smoking. Reasons for quitting were to prevent future illness (58%), current illness (31%), family pressures (20%) and financial considerations (20%). Thirteen percent of current smokers had ever tried to quit (cessation for at least one week) while 22% intended to quit, with migrants most likely to intend to quit. Almost all (96%) were aware that smoking was harmful to health, though only 25% were aware of the dangers of passive smoking. A mean of 11% of personal monthly income is spent on smoking rising to a mean of 15.4% in rural smokers. This expenditure was found to have major opportunity costs, including in terms of healthcare access. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of smoking and successful quitting suggest that smoking prevalence in low income groups in Eastern China may have peaked. Tobacco control should focus on support for quitters, on workplace/public place smoking restrictions and should develop specific programmes in rural areas. Health education messages should emphasise the opportunity costs of smoking and the dangers of passive smoking

Child health insurance coverage: a survey among temporary and permanent residents in Shanghai

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Under the current healthcare system in China, there is no government-sponsored health insurance program for children. Children from families who move from rural and interior regions to large urban centres without a valid residency permit might be at higher risk of being uninsured due to their low socioeconomic status. We conducted a survey in Shanghai to describe children's health insurance coverage according to their migration status.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Between 2005 and 2006, we conducted an in-person health survey of the adult care-givers of children aged 7 and under, residing in five districts of Shanghai. We compared uninsurance rates between temporary and permanent child residents, and investigated factors associated with child health uninsurance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Even though cooperative insurance eligibility has been extended to temporary residents of Shanghai, the uninsurance rate was significantly higher among temporary (65.6%) than permanent child residents (21.1%, adjusted odds ratio (OR): 5.85, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 4.62–7.41). For both groups, family income was associated with having child health insurance; children in lower income families were more likely to be uninsured (OR: 1.96, 95% CI: 1.40–2.96).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Children must rely on their parents to make the insurance purchase decision, which is constrained by their income and the perceived benefits of the insurance program. Children from migrant families are at even higher risk for uninsurance due to their lower socioeconomic status. Government initiatives specifically targeting temporary residents and providing health insurance benefits for their children are urgently needed.</p